Sunday, 20 February 2011

After arriving at the snow resort of Tahko we were introduced to our snowblocks - 3x3x2m, they were a lot bigger than the ones we'd practiced on. We formed into groups of 3 and were asked to create a to-scale model of our sculpture from plasticine before starting on the real thing. Deciding that it was an instantly recognisable symbol of Finland, our group chose to create a Moomin (holding a teacup, to incorporate some English culture into it!)

We had a very slow start, as shifting the snow was hard work and we had a lot to remove. However, with some help from the tutors, by the end of the first day the basic shape was there. We spend the second day smoothing and perfecting the outlines. Admittedly the end result did look more like the Pokemon Snorlax than Moomintroll, but for the size and scale of it I think we did pretty good.

Other groups created sculptures based on natural forms (feather and flower, above), the northern lights (below left), and the word SNOW (below right).